Against The Wind
by sexy.sassy.southern.me
Summary: (au, ofc x ?, !redeemed franco as ofc's biological father) Janey Jerome is the daughter of Maggie Jerome, who the younger sister of Ava Jerome.. Janey is also the REAL daughter of Franco. Her mother's been estranged from her family for a long time, but before her death, she gives Janey the answers needed to find her father. But is that all she'll find while in port charles? r
1. Chapter 1

_I'm older now but still running  
Against the wind _

_- Bob Seger, Against The Wind_

The town lie in front of her, lights on the high rise buildings shining like beacons in the night. She bit her lower lip as she drove into town, down the main street, laughing quietly to herself at the name of some of the shops and diners.

"Okay, mom, this better not have been a lie." she muttered quietly as she thought back to a talk she'd had with her mother earlier in the month, what her mother told her when she asked about her father one more time.

She claimed he'd been a starving artist of sorts when they met and made her, and that he hadn't always been a good guy, but she'd known goodness was within him somehow. His name was Franco, apparently ,and their love hadn't been one meant to last.

They'd broken up for whatever reason, apparently, and she'd discovered she was pregnant around the time she discovered that he'd already left the United States.

Now, that man was both a famous artist AND a prolific serial killer of sorts. Or so they said. Janey, of course, wasn't sure if this whole thing were a lie, made to get her to stop asking about the father she knew, or if it were true, and she shared half her genes with a serial killer who according to the latest news she'd found floating around the internet about him, was currently in Port Charles General Hospital, recovering from emergency surgery that'd removed the tumor that made him the serial killer, the sick man he'd supposedly been for quite some time.

She hadn't really thought about anything, actually, she'd just gotten into her car and started driving.. That'd been about Sunday night when she'd read about the brain tumor. And now, on Tuesday evening, she was driving into the town her father was currently residing in, wondering what lie in wait for her, seeking answers she'd probably been seeking since the age of 6, the first time she'd asked her whiskey drinking, men chasing, love to party of a mother.

"The worst thing that can happen is that it'll all be a lie. But if you hadn't come, Janey, you'd have spent the rest of your life wondering partially where you came from. " the sandy blonde haired female murmured to herself as she stopped her Camaro in the parking lot of the hospital, walked in calmly.

"I'm here to see a patient?"

"What's their name, sweetheart?" Elizabeth Webber asked the 19 year old with a smile as the girl said quietly, "Umm, it's Franco.."

"Only family is allowed to see him, I'm sorry.. Did you have a reason?" Elizabeth asked, intrigued by the girl, wondering why in the name of God such a sweet looking girl would be coming to visit a monster like Franco.

"According to my mother, and this.." she fumbled around in an olive colored messenger bag as she dug out a folded piece of paper and slid it to Elizabeth on the other side of the desk before finishing, "I am family. I'm his daughter. He and my mom dated off and on for a year or something.. Then she found out she was having me, when he'd left the United States."

"Are you sure you want to see him? Or that you even want him to know?" Elizabeth asked, seeing why her mother might not have been forthcoming and told daughter about who daddy was until now, and still very much wondering why the girl had chosen to come here to see her father.

"Yes, I'm sure, okay? Look, I'm sorry I snapped, I just... I'm a little nervous."

"It's understandable. He's not a nice guy."

"But he's my father.. Unless my mother lied to me."

Elizabeth thought it over a moment and then said quietly, "Okay, follow me. He may not want you in the room with him. He's been turning away people all day.."

"Does it have anything to do with my aunt Ava?"

Elizabeth stopped and looked at her then asked, "Wait, whoa.. So Ava Jerome and Kiki Jerome-Corinthos are related to you?"

"Unfortunately, yes. My mom.. God love her, she was sort of the black sheep. According to her, the whole feud with her and Ava, my aunt, actually started over Franco."

Elizabeth raised a brow at the girl, but said nothing, simply knocked on the door and peeked in saying grimly, "For the life of me, I don't know why, Franco, but someone actually wants to see them."

"Tell them to take a fucking hike." Franco said as he stared listlessly out the window, arms crossed, his mind still going over what Ava had done to him, what she'd done to Kiki, and more importantly, what she'd cost him a long time ago..

A chance at real love, at being a better man, or at least giving it a shot.

Maggie was the one that got away, and he wished sometimes he hadn't had his head turned by her prettier, more worldly older sister, Ava.

"Trust me, Franco.. I'd love to send her away before you hurt someone else.. But you might want to hear what she has to say, at least." Elizabeth said as he sighed and rolling his eyes said "Fine. Tell them to come in then leave."

She stepped aside, allowing the sandy blonde haired 21 year old female step into the room. Franco looked up and blinked as he asked, "Do I know you?"

"No, but you know my mother.. Or so she claims. She lies a lot about things, so I dunno."

"What's her name, you're gonna have to be specific.. I 'know' a lot of women."

"Maggie."

He gaped at the girl and things started to slowly click into place, just a little. But he was still confused. Why would Maggie's kid come all the way to New York, where Maggie herself hadn't been near in at least 2 decades, almost, to see him?

"Any special reason you're here?"

She didn't speak, instead, she shoved a folded paper onto the tray that was pushed so that he could eat in bed. "If that's true.."

He unfolded the paper, it proved to be a birth certificate, apparently, for the girl standing in front of him in vintage bell bottoms, a Black Sabbath t shirt and some ancient looking converses, black square framed glasses, both wrists full of bracelets, a worn messenger bag across her body, pierced nostril, tattoo on her inner wrist .

A girl that had his eyes, if he looked long enough, fooled himself hard enough. The rest of her was her mother, made over. Attitude, facial features, coloring, all of it.

He blinked at the name signed in Maggie's handwriting on the line for father. "You're my.."

"Mhmm.. Look, pretty damn sure you're disappointed, I mean Kiki's the 'better' one. I'm trash, the flaky musician with no real job or goal in life." Janey said as she made air quotes to emphasize her dislike for her slightly younger cousin.

"Ahh.. So you've met your aunt and your cousin I see."

"Yes, and I wouldn't piss on either of them if they were burning to death in front of me."

"Ouch."

"Truth, sir. Look, if you'd rather me leave, you'd rather not know then just say the word, I'm gone.. I just wanted to see you.. Didn't seem right, you sitting here in the hospital after a major brain operation alone."

She'd started to turn and walk out, but his hand caught her wrist and he said quietly, "You can stay if you want.."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. If I weren't, I'd never have offered, Janey. I see she named you after Jane.."

"Huh?"

"Some book, Jane Eyre.. The protagonist was a female named Jane Eyre."

"Oh.. I've read it.. She never told me that's where my name came from.. How'd you know?"

"Because.. We were serious and we planned to name any girl child we had that." Franco muttered as he looked at her, taking in what was happening..

And he realized that he felt more of a bond towards Janey than he had when Ava first made her claim about Kiki being his child.

It wasn't something he could rationalize or explain, he just felt this.. Connection.

"Sit down. Standing's making me nervous." Franco said casually as Janey flopped down onto the chair sitting beside his bed and for a moment just sat there quietly, like she were thinking herself.

"Why didn't your mother come with you?"

"Probably because she od'ed earlier this month. She was sick, getting sicker, so she decided she didn't wanna live with the pain and agony anymore." Janey said quietly as she bit her lower lip and added as an afterthought, "Sorry.."

"For what?"

"You were probably expecting something entirely different. Not me. And about just blurting that about my mother out like I did. I'm not really good at sugar coating things.. I.. Hell, I'm not really good at being a people person either.." she trailed off as she stared at her black polished nails and sighed to herself.

He noticed the scars on her arms and started to say something, then chose not to. For all he knew, this could be some bizarre hallucination bought on by the post surgery pain meds.

Or, he could be getting lied to again. And that, he wasn't sure he could take. It'd damn near killed him when he'd thought maybe he'd finally get a chance to be a father with Kiki.

The faint sounds of Black Sabbath from one of her earphones had him raising a brow as he asked, "You listen to that?"

"I love classic rock. I actually play in a cover band. Going to college too."

"Really.. What's your major going to be?"

"Either Art or Abnormal Psych." Janey muttered as she leaned back in her seat and studied her father. Did she get her creativity from him? Her bizarre fascination with all of the strange things she was fascinated with?

She had so much to ask him, but right now, sitting here quietly was just enough for her. After all, she'd never really come in first in anyone's priority list before. Certainly not her mother's.

"I'd go with Abnormal Psych." Franco mused as he smiled a little and said "You can talk.. I'm not going to slash your throat or something."

"That was.. Disturbing." Janey countered as she raked her hand through her hair and then said quietly, "Just trying to get my head around this.. I mean f or so long, my mom.. She flat refused to talk about you, then one day, out of the blue, she calls me home from campus and tells me everything."

She stopped and sipped her water, dug around in the messenger bag and handed him an old cigar box with her mother's name written on it, as she shrugged and said "It's all the letters you guys wrote or something."

"She kept those?"

"Umm, apparently so, sir."

"But she made sure I knew just how much she hated me when she caught me in bed with her older sister.."

"Yeah, she kinda told me that too.. Curiousity.. Was it the booze talking, or did Ava maybe coerce you?"

"A little of both, to be honest. "

He studied her quietly as she dug around in her bag and pulled out a sketch pad, holding it out cautiously. From the way she acted, he could sort of sense that this was a big deal to her, that she never showed anyone the things sketched on it's worn out pages.

"How long have you been drawing?" he asked as he looked through the sketch pad, the creativity sort of stunning him for the moment.. Then there were the darker drawings, the angry splashes of reds, grays, blacks and whites..

"Mom said I might as well come out with a watercolor permanently attached to my hand." Janey muttered as she said quietly, "So.."

"So.." he muttered as he shut the sketchpad carefully and handed it back, addressing his next question carefully, nodding at her wrist, his disapproval for the cuts within in his eyes as he asked in concern, "Why do you do that?"

"I haven't figured it out. I'm just.. I never feel happy.. I mean I'm not crazy.. I just hate who and what I am, the things I think and feel sometimes. Especially since I lost my own kid.." Janey said as she asked, "I can tell you loved her.. Is there any reason why you didn't come back?"

"I didn't want to become a monster and make her watch it. I knew something was slightly wrong with me, even then.. I started to snap and.." Franco started, trailing off as he realized that this couldn't possibly be some bizarre post op pain meds induced hallucination.

He was talking to a child he never thought he'd have.. A child that apparently needed a parent, some form of guidance.

"So.. Where'd you come here from?"

"New Mexico." Janey said as she stretched, yawned a little and asked, "When are they springing you from this joint?"

"Tomorrow, with any luck." Franco muttered as he asked, "So.. Are you going back to New Mexico?"

"I'm not sure yet.. I haven't really decided. If I'm wanted around, I'll stay. If not, I'm gone. Nothing left for me in New Mexico anyway, to be honest."

"How'd you find out where I was?" he asked as he looked at her, wondering why she seemed to be so convinced that at any second, he'd tell her to take a hike and forget he existed..

"The internet, actually." she muttered as she looked at him, trying to gauge his reaction to her showing up like this.

"You mentioned a few minutes ago, you lost a child.. What happened?" he asked, curious and concerned about her, the connection he'd felt since she walked into the room kicking in, taking over.

"I'd rather not talk about it. I was an idiot to trust the guy in the first place.. " Janey muttered as Franco asked, "What happened?" slightly angry at this unknown person, suddenly.

"Let's put it this way.. He said and did all the right things, but in the end, he was probably the worst person I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. I woke up in the hospital, attached to IV's and machines and found out that he'd managed to get us in a wreck, and he'd gotten himself killed, managed to cost me the only good thing that came from him.. I wanted her.. God I wanted her.."

"You're only 21." Franco pointed out as he looked at her, concerned.

"When you carry a child inside of you, regardless of reason, or how hard you try not to, how many risks there are in carrying the child, you get attached. I loved her so much."

"I can tell.. But you're still young. There's still time."

"Not when I've decided that I'm gonna just be alone. It's better that way, really. Besides, I'm in college now, I'm trying to get past the whole grief thing."

"Burying it isn't getting over it."

"It's better than letting it eat me alive, is it not?" she asked quietly as she apologized and said "Sorry, it's just.. It's hard to talk about."

Elizabeth stepped into the room and said quietly, "Visiting hours are over.. But if you'd like, you can stay. "

"She'll stay." Franco said abruptly as he stood and stretched before flopping back down on the damn uncomfortable hospital bed.

"Are you sure you want me staying? I mean for all we both know, my mom could be lying."

"Maggie might lie about a lot of things, Janey.. I really don't think she's lying about this.. But we'll get a test done and see."

Janey nodded and the tv came on quietly, the two of them becoming engrossed in a movie until Janey fell asleep.

Franco stood and walked over, covering the petite sandy blonde haired female with one of the spare blankets in the room, letting her sleep. Then he sat up, thinking about everything.. What he'd done then, what he'd been intending to do with a girl he hadn't felt this connection to, and what he knew he was going to do with this girl, a girl he had a feeling he didn't even need the DNA test to prove that she was his daughter.

Apparently, the two, father and daughter, found each other, when they needed each other the most. Now, what was going to happen after that, was strictly up to them..Could they make things work and get to know each other, have a father and daughter relationship?

Or would he do something bad again, with good intent, and send her running for the hills like he'd done with everyone else?

( A/NS:)

Okay, so this came to me when they made the poor guy think Kiki was his daughter and then ripped that right out from under him. It was mostly written after seeing the episode where Ellie and he have that talk on the hospital's roof.. My ofc is the daughter of another ofc who's the sister of Ava and Julian Jerome. Yes, I realize that this is not true, it's not historically canon, but hey.. I'm writing it anyway.

If it's dark, I'm sorry.. These two people both have their own intricate inner workings and issues and I thought after seeing Friday's episode, the 'redeeming' points of Franco's character, to me were pretty obvious and yeah.. I wanted to play on those a little.

Now on to the fun part, pairings.. I'm seriously considering Spinelli for this one, due to the simple fact that both Ellie AND Maxie pretty much betrayed the poor guy with their secret. But if any of you see her with a different guy then by all means, speak up. I've also considered Morgan or Michael, but hey.. Just whatever you guys suggest, for the most part, will be toyed with..

Probably won't be a whole lot of _certain_ characters in this one, due to the fact that some of the characters I really don't feel comfortable writing as.

This is me, giving that poor guy a damn kid so this idea will get the hell out of my head.. If you hate it, I'm sorry, but if you like it, let me know, please and thanks?


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm older now but still running  
Against the wind _

_- Bob Seger, Against The Wind_

She woke up to being prodded awake gently, a steaming cup of coffee being held out to her as she sat up, stretched. "You're up already?"

Franco nodded then said casually, "Never have really been a late sleeper. I've been up for a while now, Janey, sort of thinking.. I submitted my DNA, that cheek swab you did also. We'll know in a few hours with any luck." as he studied the sandy blonde female with curiousity. What had her first word been? When had she taken her first step? He found himself wishing that things hadn't worked out the way they had, that he'd actually been there, been her father through all of it.

If the tests came back the way he had the gut feeling they would, then he was going to have to make up for a lot of things he'd missed out on in her life and maybe, hopefully, he could help her through this difficult time in her life now. Grief was never a fun experience, maybe them finding each other now, when he was so bitter about his own life, and her so grief stricken and obviously having had the life she'd had, was what they both needed. He wasn't promising that this was going to be perfect, but he wanted to be her father.

"So.. did they tell you when they're letting you out today?" Janey asked as she wiggled her feet into her shoes, stood, popping her back, her knuckles as she looked at her father. Somehow, she knew the tests were going to prove her mother hadn't been lying, she could just sort of feel it, really. And when they did, she was going to be there for her father, because she was almost certain that he had nobody in this whole town willing to look after him after his having had a serious brain surgery as he'd just had. Apparently, judging by last night's reaction at her appearance from the nurse, nobody in this whole town was fond of him.

Of course, the person he'd been before the tumor was discovered, Janey wasn't alluding herself, that had a lot to do with it. But she could sort of see what her mother had seen in the man, now, having met him for herself. And she knew where a lot of things about herself came from now too. "Want some breakfast?" she asked as she studied him and managed a smile.

"Yeah. If you don't mind." Franco said as he dug through pockets and handed her money.

"I've got it, I have a little bit, okay?" Janey said as she pulled a hoodie down over her t shirt and walked out into the hallway, promptly bumping into the nurse from the night before.

"How'd it go in there?"

"It went.. Look, I realize that he's some monster to you guys, but he could possibly be my father and.. I'm going to do my best to be there for him." she stated as she sighed and then said quietly, "If you happen to see my aunt Ava, or that bitch I call a younger cousin, I'd appreciate it if neither of the two were allowed into his room. I'm almost certain my aunt will play on this somehow and he'll wind up worse for the wear because of it."

"What'd Ava do to you?"

"She caused my mother's problems and as a result, she messed up my life. So yeah, I hate her. No, it won't change." Janey said honestly as Elizabeth nodded, thinking about her own reasons to hate Ava Jerome as of late. "Trust me, I know and I don't blame you."

She nodded and then made her way down to the cafeteria in the building, having said what she meant to say for the moment. She'd just sat down, waiting on the servers to finish stocking the food when a guy about her age flopped down nearby, his eyes angry as he stabbed at jello.

"Careful there.. " she muttered as he said "It's better than what the Jackyll feels like doing at the moment."

"Hmm.. Okay then." Janey muttered as she said "Well, I hope it gets better for you. I'm gonna be around here a lot. My dad, he's kind of in recovery now.. Just had brain surgery. I mean at least I think he's my dad.."

Spinelli looked at her, brow raised as he sipped his orange juice quietly. Mostly, he was thinking about the betrayal he felt currently, from both of the women he'd once loved. There really wasn't much the two could say to each other, as Janey seemed to be lost in thought herself, currently. She rolled her eyes as she saw her aunt slinking in, her younger cousin and her younger cousin's mobster prince fiancee walking in.

"Really? This shit? At 9 am?"

"What?" Spinelli asked as he saw the three of them too. "Do you not like them either?"

"I hate two of them. Feel sorry for the guy though, if my gold digging cousin's tricked the poor kid into marrying her already." Janey muttered as she heard Ava's throat clearing from behind her, turned just in time to see the sweet yet menacing smile.

"Janey?"

"Aunt Ava."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, somebody had to fix the mess you created, didn't they? Did you think I'd never found out that because of you, my mother fled to raise me completely alone? That I wouldn't ever find out who my father was?"

"I did nothing. I see you're still confused or on drugs, whatever it is that my little sister allowed you to get mixed up in."

She tightened her hand around the fork, for a moment, fantasizing about splashing the walls in Ava's blood when she stabbed her in the jugular. But she bit her cheek and said quietly, "I see you're still sticking by the 'if they're not a gold digging whore like me, they're insane, obviously, theory.'" as she gave Spinelli a nod, stood and grabbed her father's food and drink, then her own food and drink.

As she got halfway to the door, Kiki called out casually, "I do hope you're feeling better. I can only imagine how hard one would take losing a child. Especially at your age."

Janey growled as she shoved her fist into her pocket and then casually stuck up her middle finger over her retreating back. Spinelli sat taking in the whole argument.

Somehow, he got the distinct feeling that there was no love lost between the three women. And somehow, he got this feeling that maybe Janey wasn't the evil spawn of her father, which made him curious. But he shoved it out of his head, got back to his own thoughts about everything he was about to give up, just so two dear friends could be happy.

And how it was all his once fair Maximista's fault.

Upstairs, Janey walked into her father's room, a grim and angry expression on her face. "Hey.. Are you okay? Did somebody say something to you?" Franco asked, surprised at how quickly the fatherly instincts seemed to take over.

"No, I just had a run in with the wicked witch of the North and her ugly little offspring."

"Ahh.. So they did find you."

"And proceeded to make my life a living hell, right in front of god and everyone. I swear to Christ, sir.. If I ever snap.. They will be found, backside up, knives in their back."

Franco sighed as he said quietly, "The results are in.."

"Well?"

"I waited on you to come back before I opened them."

They sat in silence as Franco tore into the envelope, hesitating for a moment, blinking. The smallish smirk filled his face as he said "You are my daughter. And this brings us to my next thought."

"What's that?"

"I'd really like it if you moved here."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Janey thought it over and nodded as she said quietly, "I suppose I can give this town a chance."

( A/NS:)

Okay, so this came to me when they made the poor guy think Kiki was his daughter and then ripped that right out from under him. It was mostly written after seeing the episode where Ellie and he have that talk on the hospital's roof.. My ofc is the daughter of another ofc who's the sister of Ava and Julian Jerome. Yes, I realize that this is not true, it's not historically canon, but hey.. I'm writing it anyway.

If it's dark, I'm sorry.. These two people both have their own intricate inner workings and issues and I thought after seeing Friday's episode, the 'redeeming' points of Franco's character, to me were pretty obvious and yeah.. I wanted to play on those a little.

Now on to the fun part, pairings.. I'm seriously considering Spinelli for this one, due to the simple fact that both Ellie AND Maxie pretty much betrayed the poor guy with their secret. But if any of you see her with a different guy then by all means, speak up. I've also considered Morgan or Michael, but hey.. Just whatever you guys suggest, for the most part, will be toyed with..

Probably won't be a whole lot of _certain_ characters in this one, due to the fact that some of the characters I really don't feel comfortable writing as.

This is me, giving that poor guy a damn kid so this idea will get the hell out of my head.. If you hate it, I'm sorry, but if you like it, let me know, please and thanks?


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm older now but still running  
Against the wind _

_- Bob Seger, Against The Wind_

Franco sat in his room at the Metro Court hotel, currently listening to his daughter play guitar. Apparently, the song was one done by a Canadian band, Nickelback. He found himself tapping his foot, despite the worry that both himself and his daughter would both be deaf by the end of their bonding experience. But it made him smile, because he could tell she'd gotten his creativity. It also made him wonder what moments in her life he'd missed.

"So you play cover songs?"

"Not just cover songs, but yeah.. Mostly. I mean back home, I played a lot of dives a lot of college bars." Janey admitted as she looked at her father and asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah. Still hurts like hell, the pain from the surgery."

Her watches alarm went off and she turned to him as she said calmly, "Medicine, now."

"Again? But I just took one damn pill about an hour ago."

"No, my dear father, it was 6 hours ago. And I just found you. Not losing you because you won't follow the doctors orders. Do not give me that pout. You sir, are taking this pill, if I have to open your mouth and insert it."

"And you say you wouldn't make a good doctor." he joked as she grumbled and fished the bottle off of the table in the room, held the large pill out in her hand, along with a Sprite.

"What? No Pepsi?"

"Daaad."

"What? I did just have major brain surgery and I haven't drank a soda in over 3 weeks now." Franco muttered as she grumbled again, bit her lip and said quietly, "Just this time."

She grabbed him a Pepsi, sank back into the overplush couch next to him as she asked, "So.. Is this what you do?"

"Not usually, no."

"Maybe tomorrow, you can show me around."

"I will. I'm just glad you're staying." Franco admitted as he looked at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Just still pissed about my run in with Kiki this morning in the cafeteria." she muttered as she remembered the casual taunt thrown at her by Kiki. It'd clearly been meant to cut her where she hurt the worst.

"Who the hell is Weezer?" Franco asked, as he thumbed through her big book of cd's.

"You're kidding me right now, right?"

"Nope. Never heard of 'em."

"You're about to hear 'em then." Janey said as she got up, slid the cd into the dvd player and found a song on the cd, hitting play.

"What's the name of this song?"

"Buddy Holly."

"But that makes no sense."

"Actually, yeah it does, dad. They keep saying the guy's name over and over in the song." Janey said as she tapped her foot on the edge of the coffee table, humming the lyrics to the song along with it. It felt good to finally feel like she belonged somewhere, to finally know who her father was and why she hadn't been a part of his life.

She wished her mother had lived to see it and see him again though. Sighing, she cut down the music and said quietly, "So.. Why'd you come back here? I mean after everything you did the first time?"

"I wanted to make amends. And now, the place has kind of grown on me."

"I've only been here 2 days it's starting to grow on me too." Janey admitted as she laughed a little and then said "I signed up for classes at PCU. Taking your advice, dad.. I will be majoring in Abnormal Psych and minoring in Art and Broadcasting."

"Broadcasting, huh?"

"Thought of becoming a DJ for a radio station." Janey admitted as she said "Since it's not likely I'll become a famous rockstar anytime soon. I got hired as a part time DJ at the college station.. You, sir, are looking at the new queen of Heavy Metal Midnight Hour."

Franco laughed and fluffing her hair he said quietly, "I'm glad you showed up when you did."

"And I'm glad I found out about you when I did." Janey admitted as she looked at him and smiled a little.

"Heavy Metal Midnight Hour, huh.. So, you going to give your dad a shoutout on air?"

"What do you think?" Janey asked, snickering as she lazily lobbed a pillow towards him, stretching, yawning.

( A/NS:)

Okay, so this came to me when they made the poor guy think Kiki was his daughter and then ripped that right out from under him. It was mostly written after seeing the episode where Ellie and he have that talk on the hospital's roof.. My ofc is the daughter of another ofc who's the sister of Ava and Julian Jerome. Yes, I realize that this is not true, it's not historically canon, but hey.. I'm writing it anyway.

If it's dark, I'm sorry.. These two people both have their own intricate inner workings and issues and I thought after seeing Friday's episode, the 'redeeming' points of Franco's character, to me were pretty obvious and yeah.. I wanted to play on those a little.

Now on to the fun part, pairings.. I'm seriously considering Spinelli for this one, due to the simple fact that both Ellie AND Maxie pretty much betrayed the poor guy with their secret. But if any of you see her with a different guy then by all means, speak up. I've also considered Morgan or Michael, but hey.. Just whatever you guys suggest, for the most part, will be toyed with..

Probably won't be a whole lot of _certain_ characters in this one, due to the fact that some of the characters I really don't feel comfortable writing as.

This is me, giving that poor guy a damn kid so this idea will get the hell out of my head.. If you hate it, I'm sorry, but if you like it, let me know, please and thanks?


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm older now but still running  
Against the wind _

_- Bob Seger, Against The Wind_

"And you're listening to the Heavy Metal Midnight Power Hour. This is Janey Frank comin at you live, vamps and vixens. Now I'm gonna play a special song for a special guy.. You know who you are.. But in case you losers don't, my dad,Franco.. Go check out his new art gallery." she said as she smirked and slid the cd into the drive. The song was a favorite, one of her own special remixes, because she enjoyed toying with audio equipment and turntables upon occasion.

She slid the hockey mask down over her face, kicked an engineer boot clad foot up on her desk, grabbing a dart from the cup, throwing it at the dartboard across the room, smirking beneath the mask when she made it into the space two over from the actual bullseye. A check at the time revealed she was due a break, so she stood, stretching, slid the mask up on her head, made her way down the dingy, barely lit hallway, intent on getting some caffeine in her system.

On her way down, she passed her cousin Lila's booth, knocked on the window, pressing her face up against the glass, screwing up her face into a creepy expression, laughing when she saw Lila lose composure, crack up on air. Seconds later, she heard Lila's booth door closing, found herself being joined by Lila who remarked grimly, "Is it just me, or do all the freaks come outta hiding on the 13th?"

"Not just you. Some fucking creeper's been making calls about vampires being real all fucking night. Kind of creepy if you ask me." Janey mused as Lila sipped her soda, watched her cousin. She realized that her mom and her dad didn't actually LIKE her uncle Franco, but the scant hand fulls of times Lila met the guy, he seemed okay.. And he wasn't nearly as creepy as this Stephen Clay jerk, so..

She gave him the benefit of the doubt, mostly because she loved having her real family around and she didn't want to limit herself to just her immediate family.

"So.. You heard that urban legend about the abandoned frat house just off campus, right?" Lila asked, giggling a little. She knew Janey didn't seem to spook easily, not like her aunts Kristina and Molly, or her newest friends, Maxie and Lulu.

"The murder suicide thing? Yeah.. It's probably bullshit though, you know that right, Lil?"

"Yeah, but.. I do have that app on my phone.. The ghost hunting tools?"

Janey's eyes danced a moment and she smirked as she said "Are you suggesting?"

"Yeah.. Oh yeah.. Totally.. We go on a ghost hunt tonight."

"Hmm..."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just.. I could have sworn I saw a guy in a leather trench coat slipping into your booth is all, Lil."

Lila swore and looked around.

"What the hell are you gonna do, Lil?" Janey asked as she studied her cousin intently, sipped her soda before muttering, "What the fuck, right? Can't talk 'em out of it, join 'em. At least this way nothing happens to ya."

Lila was about to say something in response when all the lights in the studio went out. From up the hallway, they heard Dillon yelling, swearing as he looked out into darkness, only a dim Mag Lite in his hand.

"Shit.. Lila?"

"Yeah?"

"Somebody's actually IN your booth." Janey muttered as she slid the heavily studded black leather belt from around her waist, wrapped it around her knuckles, started to tiptoe towards the booth, crouching down.

"What the hell are you gonna do, Janey?"

"Shhh, damn it. Just gonna scare whoever this happens to be." Janey hissed as she hit her stomach, crawled a little to keep from being seen. "Are you fuckin insane, Janey?"

"Shh, damn it, Lil. I'm tellin ya, this is probably just some fucking idiot, tryin to screw with all of us. They obviously knew that the station would be pretty much empty." Janey hissed as she looked up, found herself in front of the door to her cousins booth, Lila now right behind her, slipping a battered and well used Scouts knife into her hand.

"If you're gonna scare 'em, Janey.. at least use the fuckin knife, yeah?"

"Good point, Lil." Janey whispered back as Lila's cell phone lit up, then Janeys, a text from Dillon.

"Whatever it is tha thinking, stop where u r."

Janey texted back quickly, "Not gonna happen, Dil. It's probably just some 1 playing stupid prank."

"U can't ever b 2 careful." Dillon's next text read as she looked at Lila and asked, "You ready?"

"Born ready, Jane."

"Let's do this, Lil."

The two girls stood up and were just about to kick the door open when the lights all came back on, all the equipment roared back to life, and they both saw it then.

A dummy hanging from the roof support in Lila's booth.

"What the holy fuck?" Janey gasped at the dummy, biting her dark red lower lip.

Dillon ran down when Lila screamed and then looking at the dummy asked, "You two alright?"

"Yeah.." Lila muttered as Janey bit her lower lip, looked at the dummy again, brow raised. "Hey, there's something pinned to it.."

"Jane.. Not a good idea.."

"Yeah, I'm with Lil, Jane.. The farther you are from that thing.." Dillon said as Janey held up her finger, walked towards it.

Dillon stepped into the hallway to call the police station, hoping he'd catch Dante, Logan or Diego at work and Lila stepped into the hallway to text her father, the only guy she really trusted to save her ass, should she need it.

"Someone should text Franco. I get the feeling that whatever this is, it's not just a little joke." Dillon remarked as he scrolled through his phone, highlighted his mother's number, texted explaining the situation, telling her that she might have to call Janey's father.

Janey walked back out and said quietly, "The words TMK mean anything to anyone?"

"Oh hell.. Dillon, isn't that.."

"It is."

"He's the guy who killed her.." Dillon muttered as Janey held out the note by it's edge.

"Why come back now?"

"Jane.. I have no idea.." Dillon muttered as he said "Dante and the guys are on their way over. Lila, go call your dad, Janey, you should probably call yours.. There is no way in hell I'm staying to finish out my shift."

"But if we leave.. Won't the guy realize there's something up?"

"She does have a point, Dil.. Whoever this happens to be.. They obviously want us to hear them out.."

"Are you two insane? Do you not realize just how much damage this guy did back then? And he's back now? Diego's not gonna be happy, not in the slightest.. He just got his rap cleared for it.. He just got his life back.. So did Logan."

Janey raked her hand through her blonde hair as she bit her lower lip and then said "Guys? I just heard the basement door open."

The three 20 somethings looked at each other again and froze for a moment. What the hell was going on here tonight?

Before any of them could really say anything, the doors at the end of the hallway slammed shut, locked.

"Oh.. That's not good."

"No, it's not."

When the lights went off again, they all looked at one another and groaned simultaneously.

And down the hallway, in a darkened long forgotten booth, the masked figure took a seat, crossed their arms behind their head and surveyed their handiwork. It was good to be back, it really was. And now, the brother that got chosen over him by their father, well.. He was going to pay.

* * *

Franco looked up from an argument about the color he wanted the walls inside of the art gallery he was opening in the Metro Court shopping center, to smirk as he heard his daughter giving him a shout out from her booth in the campus radio station. Carly stood nearby, brow raised as the sound of a remixed Metallica song, Fade To Black filled the small rented space.

"So.. I see you two are getting along." she observed as she walked into the shop, looked around.

"She's a grump, but I'm getting kind of used to having her around." Franco admitted casually, before smirking, asking her, "What brings you by?"

"Just bringing by the paperwork for your lease. You have to keep it on file here. In case something ever happens to the system in the main records." Carly explained as she looked around at the few framed pieces of art he already had in the space.

"Did you do these?"

"No, umm, actually, Janey.. She draws, paints.. She was doing a comic book apparently, a while back, she kinda did those paintings based off of the comic." Franco said as he raked his hand over his hair, looked at Carly, biting his lip.

Carly managed a slightly friendly, although wary smile to him and said "So basically, you're going to display them, like I do with Jossy's paintings on the fridge?"

"Yeah. Those aren't for sale. My daughter's creative. She probably remixed this song."

Carly studied him a moment and then shrugging said "I'll come back by later. I.. I have some things to do." and edged out of the room. She tended to avoid getting too close to Franco lately, she didn't like not being able to hate him because the tumor made him the way he was. Everyone else, for the most part still hated the guy, it made her feel bad.

Franco felt his cell phone vibrating, smiled when he realized it was his daughter calling from work. He picked up the phone and the smile dropped from his face.. "What do you mean there's someone in the station, Janey?"

"Just what I said, dad.. They cut the power after relocking the completely electric security system. We're trapped until some guys from the station get here.. Lila found a dummy in her dj booth.. And I think I saw someone slinking through the hallways wearing a hockey mask like mine.. Look, don't freak out, dad. We're gonna be fine. The cops are on the way."

"I'm on my way too. There's no way I'm letting anything happen to you, not now." Franco said as he grabbed the gun from the safe in his shop, loaded it quickly. On his way out of the Metro Court, he looked at his phone and then said grimly, "Whoever's doing this.. They better hope they don't touch a hair on her head."

Carly stopped him on the way out and asked what was wrong and he explained it to her. She looked at him, at the gun in his hand and she said quietly, "Look.. I'll come with you."

"It's not a good idea." he said grimly as she mentally reminded herself just how much she was supposed to hate this man standing in front of her, yet she wound up following him out to his car, getting into the passenger seat. Maybe if she went too, she'd keep him from doing something highly irrational...

* * *

**( A/NS:)**

**Oh my God, I'm pleasantly surprised by the people who actually LIKE this and want me to continue. I wanna thank you all, you're amazing and incredible, and I'm gonna keep this one going. Not sure who I'll pair Janey with, ultimately, but someone suggested Logan or Johnny.. I'm toying with Logan for my other current GH story, but I can go from Diego, Johnny or Spinelli. Thanks for the support, guys..**

**I was inspired by watching Urban Legends earlier.. I'm not sure what the hell will happen next in all honesty.. I do have a vague idea of what I want to happen, beyond that, no clue. Hope you guys are having a killer (pun intended) almost Friday 13th. By the way, this chapter is in BOTH of my GH stories. It's not a mistake, Janey and Lila are cousins after all.. SO the stories will be joined in some chapters, representing story arcs I've come up with. Hope you all enjoy this, and like that idea, and it doesn't annoy. Each joined chapter will be slightly different here and there. :)**


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